floyd



May 26, 1931. Y R. H. FLoYD 1,806,752

AUTOKATIC SPARK ,RETARDER Filed July 2, 192B 7 9 mam?? 2 A. Reiz/JzoydPatented May 26, 1931 UNITE STATI-:s

PATENT oFF1.c-

YRAY ir. lmorn, or CHICAGO, rLLrivors, AssIGNoR, or rotary-NINE PER'CENT 'ro y IRVIN w. POWELL AND IRENE n. YPOWELL v AUTOMATIC srnnk RE'RDApplication mea July 2, 1958.1 seriali ne; assiste.

This invention relates to devices for automatically retarding the sparkon an internal combustion engine, and relates more particularly to motorvehicles, as it is desirable to 5 retard the spark, as in starting thevehicle, in order to avoid any possibility of breakage of the starter. Y

Generally stated, therefore, the object of the invention is to providean improved construction and arrangement whereby the operation of thestarter of a. motor vehicle, or of an internal combustion engine for anyother purpose, will automatically adjust the timer of the ignitionapparatus to thereby retard the. spark and avoid any possibility ofbreakage of the starter, which breakage is liable to happen, as is wellunderstood, if an attempt is made to start the engine while the spark isadvanced.

It is also an object to provide certain details and features ofconstruction and combinations tending to increase the general efliciencyand the desirability of an automatic spark retarder of this particularcharacter.

To these and other useful ends,'the invention consists in the mattershereinafter sety forth and claimed, and shown in the accompanyingdrawings, in which;-

Fig. 1 is a plan view, partly in horizontal section, of an automaticspark retarder for motor vehicles, embodying the principles of theinvention. Y

Fig. 2 is a diagram of the said apparatus.

As thus illustrated, the invention comprises any ordinary or suitableinternal com-. bustion engine 1,'such as that on an ordinary motorvehicle, provided with a rotary timer 2' of any ordinary or suitableconstruction. As is usual, this timer has an arm 3 that is suitablyconnected by link means 4 with the arm 5 at the Vlower end of the sparkshaft (not shown) in the steering column 6, the upper portion of whichlatter is shown broken away l and omitted for convenience ofillustration. At the upper end of this column, adjacent the steeringwheel, as is'well known and understood, a spark lever (not shown) isprovided for adjusting the vtimer (by rocking said shaft one way or theother) to advance or retard the spark. A starter pedal 7 is provided,is'sl'icnvnl in the dr`awing`s,'which are illustrative of one forni' ofthe invention, andl t'o' avoidany possibility of breakage" `of thestarter, by back firing, when this pedal is depressed, means areprovidedfor automatically retarding the spark-as followsz` A heliXorcoil.8 is provided,"ina brass' or other suitable shell"V 9, and piyote'dat one ndj a 10aa traigan on menores The armature of this electric coilis in the form of a reciprocatingrod 12 that is slidableendf wise" inthe't'ubula'r guide 13 of said coil'.4v nut 14 is adjustably mountedonthe'l ,rod`r` like armature 12,VV as shown, and a coiled Yspring 1.5 isvinter/,posed between this nut' and the? shoulder 16 of the coilstrtic'ture,jwhere by the'armature is yieldingly" held n'o'rf malposition. The said armature 12 iss-wiv- @uy 0i' pvotally connected atV17 Withlth said link means 4 previously mentioned, whereby energizingof the coil, and; consequentl recipr'ocation of the' armature1`2toward'the pivot 10, will result in adjustment of the timer 2 in aidirection to retardV the spark.' This is preferably accomplished au#tomaticallyby operationof the 4starter 7", as shown' in lig'. 2 of thedrawings, it being observed' that when the'starter 7 yispressedagainstth'e contact point 18"to:'clos'e'lthe cirfcuit Vfrom "thebattery19` through j the motor 20, acircuiti's also completedlfromsaid bat-`tery ,through` the coil 8, through the ground connections'z21and 22, "aswell as through the groundconne'ctions 21 and 23, thus energizing' thecoil andcausing the' armature 12 to au` tomatically adjust theV timer inposition to retard thefsparkQV When `.the starter is released, thecircuit through the coil'S is automatically'opened, and the spring 15willreturn the ,timer to normal position.- r

' It will be seen, therefore, that the invention" provides means forautomatically ret'arding'the spark, in s tartinga motor fve-f hicle, or'starting an internal'V combustion engine: of any'suitablecharacterflthereby avoidingthepossibility of' breakage of the starter,Awhich breakage is `l iable"'tof-occ,uras the result of back firing whenis attempted to'start the engine'` with the? spark in ad# Vanceposition;

It will be understood, of course, that the nut 14 can be adjusted tochange the normal position of the armature l2, in order to insure thedesired results, if such is necessary or desirable.

It will be seen, therefore, that the electromagnet, the armature core,and the spring, all enclosed in the same casing, constitute a unitaryelectromagnetic automatic timer actuator which can be easily connectedin operative position in an ordinary motor vehicle, the unitary devicehavingvonly two points of attachment, one at each end thereof. Thearrangement shown and described, is illustrative of one method of usingthe said unitary device, but it is obvious that the device can becoupled in position to automatically control the timer in any suitableor desired manner, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Without disclaiming anything, and without projudice to any noveltydisclosed, what I claim as my invention is:

l. In a motor vehicle, the combination of a timer controller member, atimer subject to manual control by said member, a starter member, anelectromagnet solenoid having an energizing circuit controlled by saidstarter member, whereby the electromagnet is automatically energizedwhen the starter is energized, an endwise movable armature core for saidmagnet, means whereby said electromagnet solenoid and core have pivotalsupport and controlling connection with said timer, and a helical springfor said armature core, forming with said magnet and core a movablysupported unit in which the spring and solenoid and core have a commonlongitudinal axis, whereby to automatically restore said core to normalposition in said magnet, after the engine is started, the energizing ofsaid magnet serving to move the timer to retarding' position, and saidspring serving automatically to advance the timer after. the engine isstarted.

2. An attachment for motor vehicles for automatically retarding thespark timer when the engine starter is operated, comprising acylindrical electromagnet solenoid provided with an endwise movablearmature core, a casing enclosing said magnet and armature, providing achamber at one end of said mag net, a helical spring in said chamber forautomatically restoring said armature to normal position when the magnetis de-energized, said armature having a rigid portion projecting fromone end of said casing, said projecting portion having means of support,and the other end of said casing havmg means of support, whereby saidattachment may be connected as a movable link in operative relation tothe timer of a motor vehicle, and means whereby the motor vehiclestarter is operative to automatically close an energizing circuitthrough said mag- RAY H. FLOYD.

